Nested-building as an effective strategy for the reuse of reinforced concrete industrial buildings. The case of the ex-Manifattura Tabacchi factory in Verona (1930-65)

Nested buildings today represent an efficient alternative to traditional recovery interventions in terms of cost-effectiveness, sustainability and compatibility with the existing building. The Italian territory has many disused industrial buildings on which it is necessary to operate with new recovery and re-market strategies.  This article presents the results of the research, currently in progress, carried out by the ICEA department (University of Padua). The research concerns the recovery of industrial buildings in reinforced concrete from the 20th century.  In these buildings the prefabrication allows a considerable optimization of the recovery interventions focused on modularity and prefabrication to fasten the  construction times together with  flexibility and reversibility. The analysis of the functional, structural and construction types made it possible to identify general intervention criteria which – as the identification of the average span dimensions – led to two design scenarios of wooden housing modules, following nested-building strategy. After a phase of study and critical analysis, criteria and guidelines for intervention were identified which – as the identification of the average span dimensions – led to two design scenarios of wooden housing modules, following nested-building strategy. The ex-Manifattura Tabacchi factory in Verona  was chosen as a case study on which the results of the research were tested.